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Up To Date

Seg. 1: How Literature Led To A 'Written World.' Seg. 2: Humanity's Destiny On Mars And Beyond.

NASA
On terraforming Mars, Futurist Michio Kaku says, "we're talking about an outpost, a settlement on Mars, just in case something bad happens to the planet Earth."

Segment 1: How 4,000 years of writing shaped history, people and civilization.

From the "Epic of Gilgamesh" and the clay tablets it was written on in 2000 B.C. to the downloadable content of today, literature and the writing technologies that go along with it have allowed humans to make sense of the world, says Martin Puchner, general editor of "The Norton Anthology of World Literature." Today, he explained how written stories are the foundation of our modern world.

Segment 2 beginning at 19:53:  Colonizing Mars and exploring our galaxy.

Theoretical physicist and futurist Michio Kaku explained how humanity's move from our home planet is inevitable. From billionaire Elon Musk's SpaceX to self-replicating robots, Kaku offered his vision of how we will finally make our way to the stars.

 Rainy Day Books will host Michio Kaku at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 27, at Unity Temple on the Plaza, 707 W. 47th St., Kansas City, Missouri 64112. For more information, visit RainyDayBooks.com.

When I host Up To Date each morning at 9, my aim is to engage the community in conversations about the Kansas City area’s challenges, hopes and opportunities. I try to ask the questions that listeners want answered about the day’s most pressing issues and provide a place for residents to engage directly with newsmakers. Reach me at steve@kcur.org or on Twitter @stevekraske.
As senior producer of Up To Date, I want our listeners to hear familiar and new voices that shine light on the issues and challenges facing the myriad communities KCUR serves, and to expose our audiences to the wonderful and the creative in the Kansas City area. Just as important to me is an obligation to mentor the next generation of producers to ensure that the important conversations continue. Reach me at alexanderdk@kcur.org.